Method and apparatus for manufacturing floor mats



Aug. 4, 1942. D. R. coTTERMAN 2,292,103

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING FLOOR MATS l Filfed March 24,1941 2 sheets-sheet 1 A 1 'I' `UIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.I..'

DON R. COTTERMAN BY www MVM ATTORNE S Aug. 4, 1942-` n. R. co'rTERMAN2,292,103

IETHOD AND APPARATUS POR IANUFACTURINC; FLOOR HATS mi@ um 24, 1941 2sheets-sheet 2 I Ill,

a lnanfa coTTERMAN ATT ORN S Patented Aug. 4, 1942 METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR MANU- FACTURING FLOORIHATS Don R. Cotterman, Pontiac, Mich.,assigner to Baldwin Rubber Company, Pontiac, Mich., a

corporation of Michigan Application March 24, 1941, Serial No. 384,991

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and ap paratus for manufacturingcomposite floor cov erings.

More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved methodand apparatus for manufacturing floor coverings having a flexiblecovering sheet of vulcanizable material and having a sheet of pilefabric secured to the top surface of the nexible covering sheet with thepile extending upwardly.

One of the principal features of this invention is to provide a simple,inexpensive method and apparatus for manufacturing composite floorcoverings of the above type with an em bossed design in the pile. f

In the manufacture of composite mats oi the type setvforth, it has beenproposed to place a sheet oi.' carding material on the contoured surface oi' a mold form with the rigid pile on the carding materialextending upwardly into engagement with the base of a sheet oi' pile fabric which is placed over the carding material in an inverted position sothat the pile on the fabric extends downwardly between the rigid pile onthe carding sheet. A sheet of vulcanizable material is placed over themold form in contact with the base of the pile fabric and a heated iluidunder pressure is applied to the vulcanizable material to cure thelatter to the contour of the form. During this curing operation, thesheet of pile fabric is vulcanized to the sheet of vulcanizable materialand the pile is prevented from matting againstthe form by the rigid pileon the carding sheet.

With the above in View, it is a further object of this invention to forman embossed design on the pile fabric sheet by permitting certain areasof the pile to mat under the influence of the pressure of the fluidapplied to the vulcanizahie sheet and by preventing matting of theadjacent areas of the pile. As a result, designs of various congurationsmay be formed in the door met without increasing the cost or time ofmanie facture.

Still another object of this invention is to prou vide a sheet ofcarding material having a rality of closely spaced pins projectingupwejrdly therefrom with the upper ends of the pins are ranged in acommon plane parallel to the plane of the form and having raisedportions reducing the effective length of the pins projecting from theraised portions so that the pile registering with the raised portions ismatted to some tent.

The foregoing as well as other objects will be made more apparent asthis description prooeeds, especially when considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through a floor covering manufactured inaccordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a mold form employed in the method ofmanufacturing the mat shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line '3u-3 of Figure 2 andshowing the mold form with the several parts of the mat thereon in avulcanizing chamber; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the apparatus shown in Figure3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary diagrammatic sec tional view' illustrating onetype of pressure chamber that may be employed with the apparatus formingthe subject matter of this invention.

The iioor covering shown herein is in the i'orin of a met especiallydesigned for use as a coverk ing for vehicle body flooring oi the typedesign hated generally in Figure 1 by the reference char acter it. Itwill be observed from Figure l that the flooring i5 has a humpintermediate opposite side edges thereof for the purpose of pro vidingciearance for certain vparts (not shown) of the vehicle drivingmechanism which extends beneath the flooring of the vehicle. As will bemore fully hereinafter set forth, the mat is cured .to the contour oithe flooring i0 so as to provide a neat and pleasing appearance.

In detail, the floor mat comprises a flexible covering sheet il ofvnlcanizable material and a pile fabric sheet i2 having the secured tothe top surface of the covering sheet with the pile Il extendingupwardly'. The pile i4 has e design of any suitable configurationembossed therein., and this design is formed during the vulcanizingoperation by permitting certain areas oi' the pile mat against the formto a greater extent than adjacent areas of the pile` This method offorming the design is highly advan tageous in that it permitsdecorating' the .vor .inst without increasing the time or cost orufacture or 'the floor mat.

The various steps inthe method of manueoturing a floor mat of thegeneral type previous ly described, will he more fully understood uponconsidering the preferred apparatus for carrying out the various stepsof the method. it should be understood, however, that various differenttypes of apparatus may he employed to perform Athe several steps of themethod, out I prefer the general construction shown in the drawingsbecause it has proved both simple and in actual practice.

Upon reference to Figures 2 to al, it will be noted that the apparatuscompi i mold form i5 having a recess i6 intermediate op" positie sideedges thereof and corresponding to the hump previously described as iofd inthe flooring iii.

As shown particularly in s,

the mold form I5 comprises a metal supporting plate I'I having a hardrubber covering sheet I8 secured to the top surface thereof and having asheet or cardine material I9 positioned on the top surface oi. therubber sheet I8 in such a manner that the rigid pile ot the cardine:naterial extends upwardly.

The marginal edge portions of thehmetal supporting plate i'I projectbeyond vthe adjacent edges of the rubber sheet I8 and are return bent toprovide a continuous chamber 2i extending around the marginal edge ofthe mold form I5. The top wall 22 of the chamber 2l overlaps the topsurface of the rubber mold sheet I8 and is spaced above the latter asucient distance to provide a passage 23.

The above arrangement is such that when the iiexible covering sheet IIof the mat is placed on the top surface o i themold form, the marginaledges of the covering'sheet II overlap the top surface of the walls 22in such a manner that the passage 23 establishes communication betweenkthe interior of the marginal chamber 2| and the joint between adjacentsurfaces of the sheet II and the mold form I5.r In the present instance,the marginal chamber 2l communicates with the exhaust side of a suitablepump (not shown) through the medium of a conduit 24. The pumpis'operated as soon as the sheet il is placed on the mold form andeffects a tight seal around the marginal edges of the sheet II.

It has also been stated above that the mold form I5 comprises the sheetof carding material 20, The area of the carding sheetcorresponds and areadapted to engage the base i3 of the pile fabric sheet i 2 between thepile i4 so as to control matting of the pile E4 against the top surfaceof the form during the vulcanizing operation to be presently described.

It has also been pointed out above that an einu bossed design is formedin the door mat during the vulcaniaing operation by permitting certainareas oi the pile it on the sheet i2 to mat against the adjacent surfaceof the form. For accomplishing this result, the -base 25a of the cardinesheet 20 is embossed to form a matrix of the lolesign it is desired toform in the pile id of the fabric sheet i 2.

With the above construction, it wiil he noted that when the strip ofpile fabric i2 is placed in an inverted position on 'the csrding sheet2t and is urged downwardly toward the carding sheet, the pile i4registering with the raised portions El of the embossed design on thecardine sheet is matted against the .surfaces of the raised portions.whereas the remaining area of the pile is prevented from matting by thepins projecting from the areas of the carding sheet adjacent the raisedportions. As will be presently described,

the above action taires place during the vulcanizing operation and,accordingly, a permanent ernbossed design is formed inthe pile N of thefabric sheet I2.

As will be more fully hereinafter set forth, the form I5 is adapted tobe supported in a pressure asesinos chamber 28 shown dlagramrnetcally inFigure 5 as comprising a base #t and a cover ll removably supported onthe base 30. A suitable sealing strip 32 is secured to the base 3i! andis channe1-shaped in cross section for receiving theV marglnai edge ofthe cover. The base is apertured to receive the suction conduit 24 andthe cover is also apertured to receive a uld pressure conduit 2.9. Theabove construction -is merely shown for the purpose of illustration andforms no part of the present invention.

Method of manufacture The lrst step in the method of manufactureconsists in placing a pile fabric sheet of the proper size on thecarding sheet 26 in an inverted position so that the pile I4 on thefabric sheet extends between the rigid pins 26 on the cardine sheet..After the pile fabric sheet I2 is positioned in the above manner on thecarding sheet 2b, a exible sheet of vulcanizable material riI is placedover the base I3 of the pile fabric sheet i2. The ilexible sheet ofvulcanizable material Il has an area which is greater than the area ofthe pile fabric sheet so thatthe marginal edges thereof overlap thewalls 22 of the marginal chamber 2i in the manner clearly shown inFigure 3.

When the two sheets are positioned on the mold form, I5 in. the mannerspecified above, the mold form is located in a chamber 2S which isadapted to communicate with a source of heated uid un der pressurethrough the medium of a conduit 29. Before admitting iiuid underpressure into the chamber 28, the marginal chamber 2l is exhausted so asto not only remove any air that may be trapped between the coveringsheet i I and adjacent surface of the mold forni but to also provide aneffective seal around the marginal edge portions of the covering sheetIi.

As uid under pressure is introduced into the chamber 2b, it acts uponthe exposed surface of the covering sheet of vulcanizable materiel inthe manner indicated by the arrows in Figure '3 and urges this sheetdownwardly toward the con toured surface oi the mold form in As statedabove, the pile fabric sheet Z'is urged against the upper ends 'of thepins 2E on the cardine sheetZ, and since the upper ends of these pinsare included in a plane lparallel to the plane ci the contoured surfaceof the forrn it follows that the fabric sheet as well as the .coveringsuine the same contour under the action ci the duid under pressure.

The temperature of the fluid under pressure admitted to chamber 2o issuiiicicrit to cure the covering sheet iI to the contour of the incidform and to vulcanize the covering sheet to the portions is mattedagainst the top surfaces of the raised portions to an extent determinedby the height or' the raised portions, and an embossed design is formedin the pile it during the vulcanizing operation. The depth oftheernbcssed design may, of course, loe varied by changing the height ofthe raised portions 21, and the config-z uration of the design may bealtered to suit different specifications by merely changing thearrangement of the raised portions 21 on the carding sheet 20.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. Those steps in a method of manufacturing a composite mat whichcomprise relatively positioning a sheet of vulcanizable material and apile fabric sheet on a form with the pile extending toward the form andwith the bottom surface of the pile fabric contacting the adjacentsurface of the material, curing the sheet of vulcanizable material whilethe latter is in contact with the bottom surface of the pile fabric byapplying heat under pressure against the top surface of the sheet ofvulcanizable material, and forming an embossed design in the pile fabricsheet by matting certain areas of the pile under the action of the fluidunder pressure to a greater extent than adjacent areas of pile.

2. Those steps in a method of manufacturing a composite mat whichcomprise relatively positioning a flexible sheet of stock and a pilefabric sheet on a mold form Iwith the pile extending in a directiontoward the form and with the bottom surface of the pile fabriccontacting the adjacent surface of the flexible sheet, urging the sheetstoward the form by applying a fluid under pressure to the oppositesurface of the stock, and forming a design in the pile fabric sheetduring the application of the fluid under pressure by matting certainareasy of pile against the form and by holding the remaining area of thepile spaced from the form.

3. Those steps in a method of manufacturing a composite mat whichcomprise relatively positioning a sheet of vulcanizable material and apile fabric sheet on the contoured surface of a form with the pileextending toward the contoured surface of the form and with the bottomsurface of the pile fabric contacting the adjacent surface of thematerial, curing the sheet of vulcanizable material to the contour ofthe form and uniting the bottom surface of the pile fabric sheet to thesheet of vulcanizable material by applying heated fluid under pressureagainst the surface of the sheet of vulcanizable material opposite thesurface contacting the bottom surface of the pile fabric, and forming adesign in the pile fabric sheet during the application of the fluidunder pressure by matting certain areas of the pile against the form andby holding certain other areas of the pile spaced from the form.

4.. Those steps in a method of manufacturing a composite mat whichcomprise relatively positioning a sheet of vulcanizableI material and apile fabric sheet on the contoured surface of a form with the pileextending toward the contoured surface of the form and with the bottomsurface of the pile fabric sheet contacting the adjacent surface of thematerial, curing the sheet of vulcanizable material to the contour ofthe form by applying heated fluid under pressure against the surface ofthe sheet by vulcanizable material opposite the surface contacting thebottom surface of the pile fabric, and forming an embossed design in thepilefabric sheet by matting certain areas of the pile under the actionof the fluid under pressure to a greater extent than adjacent areas ofpile.

5. In apparatus for making floor coverings embodying a sheet ofvulcanizable material and a sheet of pile fabric having a base portionunited at its underside to the sheet of vulcanizable material, a formover which the sheets-are placed with the pile on said fabric sheetextending toward the form, means for applying heat under pressure on thesheet of vulcanizable material to conform the sheets to the contour ofthe form, a plurality of closely spaced rigid pins projecting from theform between the pile and engageable with the base of the pile fabricsheet to counteract the heat under pressure applied to the sheet ofvulcanizable material and thereby control matting of the pile againstthe form, and raised portions on the form engageable with adjacentportions of the pile to mat the latter under the action of the heatunder pressure and thereby form ,a design on the pile surface` of thefabric sheet.

6. In apparatus for making floor coverings embodying a sheet ofvulcanizable material and a sheet of pile fabric having a base portionunited at its underside to the sheet of vulcanizable material, a formover which the sheets are placed with the pile on said fabric sheetextending toward the form, means for applying fluid under pressure onthe sheet of vulcanizable material to conform the sheets to the contourof the form, a strip of carding material having a base secured to theform and having an embossed design on the surface adjacent the pilefabric, closely' spaced rigid pins extending from the embossed surfaceof the carding material and having the free ends included in a commonplane parallel to the plane of the form, raised portions of the embosseddesign on the carding material having a height so determined that thepile on the pile fabric sheet registering with the raised portions ismatted against the raised portions under the action of the fluidpressure to such an extent that an embossed design is formed in the pileof the fabric sheet.

7. In apparatus for making contoured floor coverings embodying a sheetof vulcanizable material and a sheet of pile fabric having a baseportion united at its underside tothe sheet of vulcanizable material, aform having a contoured surface over which the sheets are placed withthepile on the fabric sheet extending toward the contoured surface ofthe form, means for applying a heated fluid under pressure to the sheetof vulcanizable material to conform said sheets tothe contourof the formand to vulcanize the sheets together, a strip of carding material havinga base positioned on the contoured surface of the form and having anembossed design on the opposite surface thereof, a plurality of closelyspaced rigid pins extending from the embossed surface of the cardingstrip and having the'free ends included in a common plane parallel tothe plane of the contoured surface of the form, the projecting portionsof the pins adjacent the raised portions of the embossed design on thecarding strip having a length approximating the length of the pile onthe fabric sheet to prevent matting of the pile under the action of thefluid u nder pressure and the projecting portions of the pins extendingfrom the raised portions of the embossed design on theycard'ing striphaving a length less than the length of the pile to permit the pileregistering with the raised portions to mat against the latter.

DON R. CO'I'IERMAN.

